Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling said on Friday that Prime Minister Nardendra Modi didn’t fulfil a single demand of the Himalayan state despite repeated requests.

Chamling said Modi had visited the state on two occasions, first on January 18, 1916, and again on September 21, 2018. “On both the occasions, I had raised a number of issues concerning the Sikkimese people. But the prime minister didn’t utter a single word or give a single penny to the state,’ said Chamling.

“I had asked for a special economic package of Rs 45,000 crore. He didn’t speak. I spoke about Limbu-Tamang seat. He didn’t say anything. Then, I placed the demand of granting tribal status to 11 Nepali communities. He didn’t speak. I also demanded that Karmapa be brought to Sikkim. He didn’t speak on it either,” Chamling added.

Both the tribal demand for the 11 Nepali-speaking communities and reservation of Assembly seats for the Limbus and Tamangs are expected to be major issues in the coming Assembly elections.

Limbus and Tamangs were granted tribal status in 2003, but seats are yet to be reserved for them as mandated by the Constitution.

Chamling said although Sikkim was the best performing state in the Northeast, the Centre had deprived it.

Chamling’s Sikkim Democratic Front is a partner of both the BJP-headed National Democratic Alliance at the Centre and North East Democratic Alliance. This is the first time Chamling has been so open in his criticism of the prime minister despite both their parties being part of the NDA.

The relationship between the SDF and BJP has been on the downward curve for some months now, especially since the BJP’s perceived dalliance with Bhaichung Bhutia’s nascent Hamro Sikkim Party.

The chief minister said it was his duty to raise the demand of his people before the Centre, but beyond that, he could do precious little.

“Matters which are central subjects like granting of tribal status and reserving seats for the Limbus and Tamangs, which can be given by the prime minister or the central government, he (Modi) didn’t speak,” he said.

The chief minister was speaking at an official programme to mark 24 years of the Sikkim Democratic Front government at Saramsa, about 15km from here.

Chamling has said Sikkim was always neglected because it has a single Lok Sabha member and has no minister in the Union cabinet.

“This should not be the case in a federal set up like ours. Whether it is Uttar Pradesh or Sikkim, they should be treated with equal respect,” he said.